Nets-Wizards Preview

By NOEY KUPCHANPosted Feb 07 2013 5:03PM

While wins haven't been easy to come by for the Washington Wizards, they've held their own against some of the NBA's best teams.

Looking to continue that trend, Washington hopes to have rookie Bradley Beal available as it goes for an eighth win in its last nine home games Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets, who needed two overtimes to win in the nation's capital last month.

At 13-35, the Wizards own the league's second-worst record. Washington, though, has proven plenty formidable against stiff competition, with nine of its wins against teams currently over .500 and four victories over division leaders.

Having gotten the best of Miami and Oklahoma City earlier this season, the Wizards beat the Los Angeles Clippers 98-90 on Monday. Washington then snapped New York's five-game winning streak two nights later with a 106-96 victory.

The Wizards went a combined 18 for 32 (56.3 percent) from 3-point range in those back-to-back wins and are averaging 101.5 points - 10.2 more than their NBA-worst overall mark - during their 7-1 stretch at home. Washington scored a season-high 36 points in the fourth quarter against the Knicks.

"I'd like to play our best against everyone," coach Randy Wittman said. "Obviously, we're getting some quality wins. ... I want our guys to concentrate on maintaining - we're not gonna win them all - but maintaining the way we're playing on both ends of the floor."

John Wall had 21 points Wednesday and Trevor Ariza added a season-high 20 as six players scored in double figures for the Wizards, who've held opponents under 100 points in a season-high seven straight games and 15 of their last 17.

They're 8-7 overall since Wall's season debut.

"Most teams in our situation - we get up for those big games," said Wall, who added nine assists versus New York. "You know it's going to be a packed crowd. You don't want to get blown out and start hearing the boo chants. We're competing against every team we play against, no matter who it is."

The Wizards also came out strong against the Nets (29-20) on Jan. 4 but fell 115-113 on Joe Johnson's jumper with 0.7 seconds left in double overtime. Beal scored 24 points in that game but Wall and Ariza both sat out due to injury.

Averaging 13.2 points to rank third among first-year players, Beal is hoping to return Friday after missing five games due to a sprained right wrist.

Brooklyn has a chance to sweep its two-game road trip after pulling out a 93-90 win Wednesday at Detroit on what was a memorable night for Deron Williams. He dished out nine assists to become the third-fastest active player to surpass 5,000, doing so in 554 games.

"It's not just in the open floor," interim coach P.J. Carlesimo told the team's official website. "It's not just running the half-court offense. A lot of his assists come from double teams, from post-up positions - it makes him different than some other point guards.

"You see a lot more different passes from Deron because his skill set and the way he is used in the game."

Williams had 24 points and 10 assists against the Wizards last month. His career average of 10.1 assists versus Washington is his highest mark against any Eastern Conference team.

Nets reserve Andray Blatche was booed while posting 13 points and 12 rebounds in Washington in his first visit since an ugly split with his only previous NBA team last summer. The Wizards used the amnesty clause on him after he was benched last season for poor conditioning.

"There's a lot of people that would not have been able to handle the situation, the first time back," said Carlesimo, who is 15-6 since taking over. "He didn't handle it. He thrived in it."

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Wizards' climb continues with 89-74 win over Nets

By JOSEPH WHITEPosted Feb 09 2013 1:08AM

WASHINGTON (AP) Over the last month, the Washington Wizards have put together a body of work at home worthy of comparison with any of the best teams in the NBA.

If only they weren't 21 games under .500.

"If this team was healthy at the beginning," forward Chris Singleton said, "I feel like we'd be in the top four in the East. ... Looking at the standings just hurts."

The Wizards capped an impressive three-game homestand Friday night with an 89-74 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. The team with the third-worst record in the NBA has won eight of nine at the Verizon Center - a stretch in which they've taken down Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Our record should be backwards," guard Bradley Beal said, "whatever it is."

For the record, it's 14-35, with the Wizards leapfrogging Orlando into 13th place in the Eastern Conference with Friday's win. After playing much of the season without John Wall, Nene and assorted other injured players, Washington's roster is finally close to full health and is starting to excel at the hardest part of the game: defense.

The Wizards held the Nets without a field goal for nearly nine minutes during the first half, getting on the kind of roll usually associated with a hot scorer who can't miss. Brooklyn went 0 for 12 from the field to start the second quarter and trailed 51-31 at halftime.

"We won that game defensively," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "It's a mindset. You don't have to have a ball go in anywhere on defense. It's just a matter of five guys being connected, and we're connected right now."

Nene had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Wall added 15 points and nine assists, and Martell Webster scored 16 points for the Wizards, who rolled off a 22-2 run during the Nets' field goal drought, which finally ended on Brook Lopez's inside basket with 3:36 remaining in the half. Brooklyn shot 4 for 22 for the period and scored 11 points, just one more than Nene.

"When you can't make free throws, when you can't make 3-point shots, and you can't make shots in the paint, it's very hard to win," Brooklyn interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "To come with that kind of effort in the second quarter, it's inexcusable."

The Wizards pushed the lead to 23 in the third quarter when Emeka Okafor made a fadeaway jumper just as the shot clock was expiring, then hit a dry spell of their own. Williams capped a 14-0 run with a steal and layup that cut Washington's lead to nine in the final minute of the period.

But the Wizards responded. Webster hit his third 3-pointer of the game to extend the lead to 14 with 7 1/2 minutes to play, and Wall followed with the play of the day - a behind-the-back-and-dish move on a fast break that led to a dunk by Trevor Ariza that made the score 74-58.

Deron Williams scored 20 points for the Nets, who lost to a sub-.500 team for only the second time this season. Brooklyn has lost five of eight overall.

"Just a lot of bad habits," Williams said. "Then we start pointing the finger and getting a little selfish. We just got to get out of that habit."

Notes: Former Wizards F Andray Blatche, booed heavily every time he touched the ball, scored five points. The crowd cheered when he missed a dunk, cheered again when he had a dunk blocked and cheered aplenty during his 1-for-6 performance at the free throw line. "There's no part of me that wants to come back here to the Wizards," Blatche said. ... Beal returned after missing five games with a sprained right wrist. He scored three points in 18 minutes. ... The Wizards have held their last eight opponents under 100 points. ... Nets F-G Jerry Stackhouse missed the game with a stiff neck. ... Brooklyn had been 18-1 vs. teams with losing records. ... The Nets planned to take a train home instead of flying because of the expected blizzard in the New York area.

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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Wizards 89, Nets 74

THE FACTS: Nene scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds, Martell Webster added 16 and John Wall had 15 points with nine assists to lead the Washington Wizards to their third straight win, 89-74 over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.

The third consecutive win equaled a season high for the Wizards, who are 10-7 since beginning the season 4-38. Washington held Brooklyn without a field goal for nearly nine minutes in the first half and outscored the Nets 30-11 in the second quarter.

Brooklyn, which has lost five of eight, was led by Deron Williams with 20 points.

QUOTABLE: "I think everybody knows, I think every team knows what team we would have been like because we're showing things now."

-- Wall, when asked what the Wizards could have done if they'd been healthy throughout the season.

THE STAT: No field goals in 8 minutes, 50 seconds. Washington held the Nets without a field goal at the end of the first quarter and the first 8:26 of the second.

TURNING POINT: Once Brooklyn was held without the field goal, the Wizards went on a 22-2 run to bury them.

QUOTABLE II: "To come with that kind of effort in the second quarter is, it's inexcusable."

-- Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo on the nightmare quarter

HOT: Nene was 9-for-13 from the field. In the last two games, he's 15-for-22 from the field.

NOT: Andray Blatche was 2-for-9 from the field and missed five of six from the foul line.

GOOD MOVE: Washington running on Brooklyn. Wall was just too fast for the plodding Nets.

BAD MOVE: The Nets fired up shot after shot in the second quarter, missing the first 12 shots of the quarter and finishing 4-for-22.

NOTABLE: The Nets scored just 74 points, one above their lowest point total of the season.

IN THE ARENA: As in his first game as a Net last month, Blatche was booed vehemently by the crowd. "There's no part of me that wants to come back here with the Wizards," Blatche said. "I'm not homesick. I'm happy to be in Brooklyn."